Saturday, April 30, 2022

Major Stake Realignment in Kinshasa, DR Congo

I have received a report that tomorrow, May 1st, there will be a major realignment of stakes in Kinshasa in what will probably result in the creation of more stakes. There are currently 11 stakes in Kinshasa. I will provide an update once I receive more information.

65 comments:

  1. That is super exciting. I am predicting 3 to 4 new stakes.

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    1. How about the monthly reports 🤔? HAvent seen in a month or 2

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  2. Not to mention exceedingly rare if this is indeed the case. When was the last time multiple stakes were created in one city on a single day anywhere in the world? This kind of event hearkens back to a seemingly bygone era, like the 1970s or 80s??

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  3. I distinctly remember this happening in the last 10 years but can't quite pinpoint it.

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  4. Ohhappydane33 - Yes, this is unusual, but it does happen usually every 1-3 years. This happened in Kinshasa back in 2018 when two new stakes were organized the same day (Kinshasa DR Congo Mpasa and Kinshasa DR Congo N'Djili). This also happened in Lagos, Nigeria in 2015 when two new stake were organized the same day (Lagos Nigeria Egbeda and Lagos Nigeria Festac). Perhaps the most rare situation is when a single stake divides to create two new stakes for a total of three stakes out of one stake. I only know of 2-3 times when this has ever happened - the most recent time was in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic in 2008.

    It is also true we have not had a mass creation of new stakes (like seven new stakes created in one weekend in Lima, Peru in early 1988 or 15 new stakes created in a single weekend in Mexico City in 1975 https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1976/01/news-of-the-church/fifteen-new-stakes-created-in-mexico-city) in many years. The Church has generally avoided these type of mass conferences in recent decades probably because letting stakes grow so large that they require that many stakes to be created really puts a strain on local leadership and it is quite the logistical nightmare to rearrange everything in terms of the organization of stakes and congregations.

    I have not been able to find any more information on what happened in Kinshasa today, but I anticipate getting reports tomorrow from local members who participated in the events. I am not sure if the Church would create more than a couple stakes in Kinshasa right now unless there were many new wards also organized at the same time. Right now, most stakes in Kinshasa have nine or 10 wards, so unless the Church wants to make stakes with only five wards (which is unusual in a city with a significant Church presence like Kinshasa), then I could see only 1-3 stakes being created (if it is indeed true that we will see any new stakes at all today).

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  5. Recently 2 new locations have been reached by the church. At least in terms of new Branches organized.

    1st, the Mataiva Atoll in Tahiti (French Polynesia), with a 2012 est. Pop. 280, recently organized a new branch.

    60 Apr 27, 2022 Mataiva Branch Mataiva, French Polynesia

    https://classic.churchofjesuschrist.org/maps/#ll=-15.357012,-148.317693&z=9&m=google.hybrid&layers=stakecenter&q=Mataiva%20Branch&find=ward:2199211

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mataiva

    2nd, the Cote d'Ivoire town of Tiassalé, of Tiassalé Department, in Lagunes District, with 2014 est. Pop. 20,057. Has recently organized a mission branch.

    61 Apr 30, 2022 Tiassale Branch

    https://classic.churchofjesuschrist.org/maps/#ll=5.875522,-4.642561&z=10&m=google.hybrid&layers=stakecenter&q=Tiassale%20Branch&find=ward:2201240

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiassalé

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  6. It is still sometime in the future, but Elder Andersen said there will eventually be 'multiple temples' in Kinshasa.

    And with two announced in other cities that is reasonable to expect.

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  7. In the Sammamish Valley Washington Stake (Eastside Seattle suburbs), 12 wards were consolidated to 8 today. The Kirkland and Redmond stakes were merged last year to form the Sammamish Valley stake. The former Kirkland stake area now has just two wards. The consolidated wards were functioning with a strong core of adults but small youth organizations. The new wards were planned to give youth more opportunities to socialize. This will leave at least one church building unoccupied. COVID and faith crisis have had an impact on the church here, but most the membership loss is families moving to areas with more affordable housing (and more families) and retirees selling and taking their home equity to other areas. With the cost of a family home well over $1M, the Seattle suburbs are going through what silicon valley experienced 10-20 years ago.

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    1. Kirkland and Redmond are becoming more diverse and urban, and less white suburban. That stake could easily support a regional Single Adult Ward 31-45 and a separate 46+ Singles Magnet Ward as well as Chinese, Hindi, Korean, and Portuguese groups or branches to help build the stake.

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    2. The Bellevue, WA stake also had ward changes on Sunday; 9 wards consolidated to five wards. One meetinghouse in the stake will be unused.

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  8. Based on what I've heard from friends in the Seattle area, this is not a surprise. Still a very strong core of members up there, but cost of living is driving families out. I wonder how many end up settling on the other side of the Cascades, especially around Spokane and the Tri-Cities, since those areas seem to have a pretty decent level of growth in membership.

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  10. An area seventy did tell leaders in a Spokane stake that that seemed to be the case, members moving away from the Puget Sound area, including Seattle, to places in the east of the state. Same one that indicated the need for a second temple in that general area would likely be needed given pre-pandemic attendance patterns and we do not know quite yet how Moses Lake when it opens plays into this.

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  11. I am hoping that we hear more information on the Kinshasa realignment soon.

    Someone predicted that there will be 18 temple announced in October that will bring us to an even 300. I would not be surprised based on what President Nelson said in Bangalaru if it goes down like this.

    At the Thursday meeting the 12 and First Presidency will approve a list of 18 temples to announce. However President Nelson will then have strong impressions on some more and so the final number announced will be 19-21.

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    1. JPL, the only business to come out of the Thursday General Conference Leadership Sessions the last few times they've been held is the list of changes to area seventies. Discussions and determinations about most new temples are made in council in the weeks before each General Conference.

      That begins with the Temple and Family History Executive Council, then to the Council of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. In relation to the Bengaluru announcement, President Nelson was quoted as saying "Our intention for the conference was to announce 6 temples. But on the eve of the conference, the Lord said to me 'Announce a temple in India.' That was the Lord's doing."

      Did you catch the wording in that statement from President Nelson? He didn't say "my intention." He said "Our intention." Once again, exact words matter.

      And we have Elder Rasband's firsthand account of the speed at which the announcement of the Ephraim Utah Temple was made just one year ago, including the approval from the joint council of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

      The Thursday meeting would not need to present the October list for "approval" because that process will have occurred well before the leadership meetings convene the week before General Conference.

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    2. I was thinking of the weekly meetings of the 12 and 1st presidency normally held on Thursdays. I am assuming at some point just before general conference the 12 and First presidency hold a meeting where they approve a list of temples to be announced. I am not sure I have direct evidence for such a meeting. The temples I can say the most about exactly how they were approved came about in other ways. Such as Joseph F. Smith dedicating the site for the La'ie temple with Elder Reed Smoot and Presiding bishop Charles W. Nibley, and then getting it approved.

      The meeting I was referring to was that of the 12 and First Presidency. My main point was President Nelson's statements in Bangalaru indicate he does at times make last minute adjustments. I imagine that Presidents Oaks and Eyring and the 12 learned of that last minute adjustment before it was made public but I lack direct evidence for such.

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    3. My understanding is that the traditional weekly meetings of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve are either superceded by the leadership sessions or that those meetings are held earlier in the week.

      In either case, final approval of the temple list is presented well in advance of the week before conference. The exception was the Bengaluru temple because the prophet has discretion in such cases to make announcements without clearing them first.

      Reports at that time, which were widely covered, indicated that the unexpected announcement sent the Temple Department scrambling, which indicates they are least were unaware of the impromptu announcement. Since the prophet didn't know about it until the "eve of the conference", there likely wasn't time to report that impression to his fellow apostles. But again, he didn't need to. The prophet always has final discretion there. With
      the Ephraim temple, he had the impression and shared that with at least a few of his colleagues, including Elder Rasband, who was tasked with being there to contextualize the announcement as one of what Elder Rasband called "the privileged few" who were involved in consultation and preparing to detail the changes to Manti's renovation process within the context of the announcement. Elder Rasband was involved as the Chair of the Public Affairs Committee, which is why he needed to know before that was announced.

      The details I've shared here are a matter of record, and can be verified by all sources covering both unexpected announcements.

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  12. I wonder if this Church News article updated earlier today about the upcoming Yigo Guam open house made an unintentional typographical error.

    According to my understanding the Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple, will become the 171st Dedicated Temple of the Church this coming Sunday, May 8th. And the Yigo Guam Temple will become the 172nd Dedicated Temple in a few weeks on Sunday, May 22nd.

    The article written by Scott Taylor, states "The Yigo Guam Temple — soon to become the 171st operating temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — has begun its open house period prior to its May 22 dedication."

    https://www.thechurchnews.com/temples/2022-05-02/inside-the-new-yigo-guam-temple-and-its-traveling-open-house-252759

    So did the Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple dedication get cancelled again for 2nd time, or was this just an unintentional misprint?

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    1. Christopher,

      Just an unintentional error. At the end of the same article it says:

      "The Yigo temple dedication will be the Church’s second in 2022, with the Rio de Janeiro Temple set for a May 8 dedication.

      The Rio de Janeiro and Yigo temples will be the Church’s 171st and 172nd operating temples. The Church has 282 temples operating, under construction or announced."

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  13. On the Guam Temple more interesting to me is the traveling open house with pictures and temple materials they are doing throughout many islands in the Federated States of Micronesia. Evidently there are still Covid related travel restrictions in place on coming from many of these islands.

    This will be the first temple announced by President Nelson to be dedicated.

    Praia that had its ground breaking the same day will be dedicated next month. San Juan also had ground breaking the sane day and hopefully is not far behind.

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  14. St George Utah Hidden Valley Stake (2201550)
    Active Date: 1 May 2022

    Bloomington Hills 5th Ward (195154)
    Desert Hills Ward (453714)
    Hidden Valley Ward (495476)
    Highland Hills Ward (2092980)
    Parkway Ward (2187272)
    Price Hills Ward (1142763)
    White Sage Ward (2173697)

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  15. I believe the April 1999 announcement to rebuild the Nauvoo Temple was also a last-minute impression by President Hinckley at the close of conference. He said, “I feel impressed to announce that among all of the temples we are constructing, we plan to rebuild the Nauvoo Temple." Later, at the October 1999 groundbreaking, he said, “I look back on what I said last April—it was almost an afterthought at the close of conference when I announced that we would rebuild the Nauvoo Temple. And I have never seen anything that has elicited more excitement than this announcement." (see July 2002 Ensign, "President Hinckley and the Nauvoo Temple")

    I've heard missionaries say that when the temple was announced, it totally caught President Monson and President Faust, his two counselors in the First Presidency, off guard. They allegedly turned to look at each other in wonder, because while they had discussed the temple, they didn't expect it to be announced yet. I don't know how true that part is, though. Note the exact wording President Hinckley used -- "almost" an afterthought. But nonetheless, still a memorable and electrifying experience that I remember well.

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    1. Gnesileah, thanks for the reminder of the particulars of the Nauvoo Illinois Temple rebuilding announcement. I had forgotten about that. I was only 15 when that temple dedicated, so I would have been younger than that at the time of the announcement about the rebuilding.

      It did occur to me to wonder if any other recently-announced temples were also unexpected, but since the pandemic has kept the prophet from resuming ministry tours, we don't know that for sure.

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    2. @Gnesileah

      I was on my mission in Kentucky when Nauvoo was dedicated - just one state over. We got to attend the dedication by broadcast to a Kentucky Stake Center. Unforgettable.

      Was that broadcast Churchwide? Who else here remembers attending it?

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  16. Finally confirmed today the Hokkaido stakes realigned on Classic Maps :

    The "Sapporo Japan Stake - 511137" has been renamed "Hokkaido Japan North Stake- 511137".

    https://classic.churchofjesuschrist.org/maps/#ll=42.782114,142.558254&z=6&m=google.hybrid&layers=stakecenter&find=stake:511137

    The "Sapporo Japan West Stake - 513350" has been renamed "Hokkaido Japan South Stake - 513350".

    https://classic.churchofjesuschrist.org/maps/#ll=42.206505,140.197476&z=8&m=google.hybrid&layers=stakecenter&find=stake:513350

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  17. I heard somewhere that the Nauvoo Temple was funded by a private donor since the membership numbers didn't justify rebuilding it.

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  18. @Christopher, while I cannot say for sure whether the membership numbers didn't justify it (though that seems quite likely) I can confirm it was funded, either in part or in whole, by a private donor. See https://abn.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2002/07/president-hinckley-and-the-nauvoo-temple?lang=eng

    It is widely believed the donor was Jon Huntsman Sr, though I don't think that was ever confirmed, and so remains mere rumor and conjecture.

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  19. Looks like no new stakes were created in Kinshasa last Sunday, but local members report that there were meetings on making plans to organize new stakes in the immediate future.

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  20. Came out through unofficial sources that the Nauvoo Temple rebuild was indeed privately funded. Rumors otherwise stated who it was.

    The immediate result, given that would not be known by the average member, was a flood of donations of money to rebuild it, and because of what came out later, within a month of announcement the Temple Construction Fund, which we still have today as an ongoing 'other' fund and is found in the dropdown list for 'other' on the online form or written in on the paper form.

    Money donated to that fund goes to any temple under construction at the time of the donation.

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  21. On a completely *different* topic. What ward has the largest population? Note, not largest population of members, but largest population. (So if one ward covered Bangladesh, that ward would have a population of 161 Million people) My wife's ward has a population of about 100,000. I'm also limiting this to "standard geographic wards", some language units will overlap multiple *states*. My guess would be somewhere like Mumbai with a handful of wards covering a city of 20 Million People, so 6 Million people in the ward...

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  22. (On the other hand, an isolated town in Utah might have a single ward with few if no non-members, so the total population might be only 200 members + 10 non-members or something similar)

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  23. Randolph - There is only one branch each in the Indian cities of Kolkata and Mumbai - so each one has like 20+ million people within the branch boundaries. There was a push a few years ago to make a second branch in Mumbai, but it did not seem to work out. Kolkata has been a very small branch ever since it was organized about 30 years ago with generally fewer than 20 active members. The Dhaka Branch is moderately sized, but again only one branch for a country of 166 million people.

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  24. I wonder if, during their 12 day Asian Ministry tour to Cambodia, Singapore and Thailand, that Pres. Bingham and Pres. Cordon could have been scouting for a location for the announced temple for Singapore Republic of Singapore? Any thoughts?

    https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2022-05-04/president-bingham-and-president-cordons-12-day-ministry-in-asia-area-cambodia-singapore-thailand-252740

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    1. I have always felt that the Singapore Temple will be converted from the current meetinghouse. I visited there a few times while in the Navy and it looks like a temple

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  25. 4 May 2022 - Salt Lake City News Release

    "Sikh Leaders from Dubai Meet with First Presidency"

    https://news-middleeast.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/sikh-leaders-from-dubai-meet-with-first-presidency

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  26. YSA wards are generally are smaller than Family wards, but while I was at BYU I remember being in a ward with 128 people and I think there were 3 non-members in our ward boundaries.

    On the other hand, in addition to the mentioned places in India and Bangladesh, I imagine the amount of people in a single branch in Turkey might be very large. Indonesia, Egypt, Ethiopia, and Vietnam are other places that come to mind but I really have no idea what the actual boundaries of wards/ branches would be in places with low saturation like that. China as well, but that one would be hard to check on.

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  27. I know who made the large donation for the Nauvoo temple, and it wasn’t a Huntsman. If I remember right the donation was in the amount of $50 million. The donor asked to remain anonymous. Let’s respect the request.

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  28. It was 40 or 50 million, but I don’t remember.

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  29. Regarding the meeting with Sikh leaders, there are alot of Sikh in Yuba City, CA. Their temple worship, ceremonial clothing & symbolism has some interesting similarities with Abrahamic religions.

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    1. Related aside:

      There's a Sikh Temple in Taylorsville, UT (on Redwood Road). I stopped in there once while waiting for my buddy to clean his car.

      Very nice people. Gave me some hot curry, told me about how life was back in India, and even gave me a tour of their Holy Place (I had to wrap my head in a turban out of respect). It was kind of like going to a temple open house, but for a different religion.

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  30. Anonymous, I agree with you on this. The Lord noted the importance of praying in secret, and that the Father who seeth in secret would openly reward those who participate in such practices in secret. If the Church has not disclosed the information in the 20-some-odd years since the announcement, it's obviously no one else's business.

    Regarding the visit of the Sikh leaders to both the Washington D.C. Temple open house and to Church headquarters, I kind of wonder if their influence in any way impacted the invitation to the Church to build a temple in Dubai UAE. But again, we don't know the details on how exactly that came about, and maybe we don't need to know. It is enough to know that in a nation where religious freedom is encouraged and supported, the Church was invited to build a temple there. We don't need to know any more than that.

    It occurred to me to wonder as well with the report of the visit of Sisters Bingham and Cordon to Asia, including a stop in Singapore, if they were tasked with looking over prospects for the temple in that area. The report followed one from earlier this year, if I recall correctly, highlighting the visit of Elder Uchtdorf to several Asian nations. Given that some apostolic assignments, particularly in the Executive Councils of the Church, have shifted, it appears there was also a shift in terms of which apostles had oversight for each area of the Church. Elder Uchtdorf's Asian ministry involved an area review. So if he was there for that earlier this year, he might have been tasked with reaching out to congregational leaders about prospective locations, in which case the female leaders could have done follow-ups on specific potential locations, since Elder Uchtdorf's earlier visit involved virtual check-ins with leaders and members in Singapore, Sisters Bingham and Cordon could have followed-up on more specific locations.

    Just some random additional thoughts from me, for whatever they might be worth to those who read them.

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  32. The "Valladolid Branch - 118168", in the Madrid Spain West Stake, was recently organized as the "Valladolid Ward - 118168".

    "34 May 04, 2022 Valladolid Ward Valladolid, Spain"

    https://classic.churchofjesuschrist.org/maps/#ll=41.370323,-4.147509&z=8&m=google.hybrid&layers=stakecenter&find=ward:118168

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  33. Singapore getting a temple makes sense, as it will also serve the Saints in Malaysia. Indonesia will get its own temple someday. I wonder if inland from the sinking Jakarta or on the new island with the new capital.

    It is great to see growth in Spain. I think that parts of Europe are being repopulated by Latin Americans, not to mention Africa, both Arab Maghreb and sub-Saharan.

    I think the Caribbean is another source of population relocation in Europe, forgotten islands like Guadeloupe and Martinique. More people are born in the Caribbean, but the jobs do not hold up.

    Any news on how the Venezuela Temple is holding up? Is Venezuela doing okay? Are they selling enough oil and providing other services to maintain enough of the economy?

    Are some citizens returning from abroad after the hard times?

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    1. Eduardo, as was mentioned in previous discussions, there was talk of shifting some parts of the Indonesian capital facilities from Jakarta to another city that was not anticipated to be affected by the potential predicted sinkage. I believe someone had noted here that only some parts of the federal government were anticipated to be moved, with Jakarta still having other government or cultural centrality.

      But I also seem to recall others here offering opinions that, based on similar predicted sinkage or submersion, temples in Vanuatu and Kiribati we're unlikely.

      And according to information of which I was made aware, it is almost certain that the 3 Pacific temples with renderings released (in Kiribati, Vanuatu, and Papua New Guinea) are likely to have groundbreakings later this year in that order.

      My purpose in bringing up those temples is to illustrate that, despite flooding being projected to submerge parts or all of Kiribati, Vanuatu, and Indonesia, the Church is still moving forward with temples in the former two nations. So projected flooding or submersion of Jakarta or other parts of Indonesia wouldn't be a deterrent to the Church announcing a temple in Indonesia generally or Jakarta specifically. Hope that answers your queries.

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  34. The Temple in Dubai came across because of quite a few factors.

    Historically, the Islamic rulers of the Arabian Peninsula have largely not wanted other religions other than Islam to be on the peninsula. I think they cited a hadith that there should only be one Deen (religion) amongst the people (referring to the areas to that moment held by Mohammed). That was, until they discovered a Christian monastery that dated to nearly two centuries AFTER Mohammed. So that Hadith was no longer graded as a strong hadith but a weak one.

    They have observed the LDS Church within their boundaries and have noted that they have been faithful to the government diktat that they do not proselytize to Islamic believers. They also note the disaster relief the Church has sent to different Islamic communities starting with the tsunami relief in 2004 all the way to the checks that the Prophet gave to the imams that were impacted by the Christchurch shootings.

    Which gets Mohammed bin Zayed thinking, "Wow, this Christian church is doing so much to help our community that's in dire straits. We want to show the world that we too are a tolerant community and we reward those that reward us. That was when he phoned the Prophet asking him to put a temple in their land.

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    1. Bryan Dorman, thanks for the information on the specifics of the UAE temple announcement. How did you find out about that? Thanks.

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  35. Eduardo, to answer your question about Venezuela church growth. The "Aruare Branch - 336807" was recently reorganized as "Aruare Ward - 336807", of the Barquisimeto Venezuela Stake - 522910, in Acarigua, Venezuela, to start reversing the downward trend in growth. I had not mentioned it in my previous post, like the Valladolid Branch in Spain, considering Acarigua seems to be a minor Locality in Venezuela in comparison to a Regional City of Valladolid in the northwest of Spain. Sorry that I had not shared this fact in Venezuela at the same time.

    33 Apr 27, 2022 Araure Ward Acarigua, Venezuela

    https://classic.churchofjesuschrist.org/maps/#ll=10.046422,-69.313948&z=9&m=google.hybrid&layers=stakecenter&q=Aruare&find=ward:336807

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  36. That spam post above this one had a link that claimed to be one thing but my web filtering service said it was something else entirely, a wolf in sheep's clothing type of thing

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  37. Im not sure about the allegation, I google search the link and it brought up a legitimate article about Christ. I will say that I did not click the link, but rather copied and pasted it into the search, then I clicked the result which had an identical url.

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  38. Sounds like a legit site that got compromised in some way.

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  39. It looks more like a language site about Aramaic and Hebrew in the scriptures. The languages of Jerusalem at the time of Christ or since that time.

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  40. The filter had the site category wrong, it is fixed now and they realized they had mistakenly thought the site (link yesterday in these comments) was no longer suspicious or compromised.

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  41. Here is an interesting 3rd party Youtube video about Church Growth I came across today. I watched it as entertainment purpose only. Disclaimer : It doesn't mean I agree with what is said in the video. It was made by an individual who goes by the name of Monsieur Z. Who does many "What If" and "Alternate History" videos.

    "Is Mormon America Inevitable?
    66,852 views Mar 16, 2022"

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sE7KzwnSuc8

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    1. @Christopher Duerig

      Thanks for sharing that video.

      I watched that one and his "A Baptist America Is Inevitable" one, too (out of curiosity on how other faiths are growing/fairing, snd what challenges they face, too):

      https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CTY5dFI8Vfg&t=616s

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  42. Having done a drive through of Charleston, WV recently, I think it would be the right distance for many people in that region to have a temple. However, checking LDS locator, I see that the Charleston 1st Ward is the only congregation there, while Charleston 2nd Ward is north of town a ways. Does a city need a better concentration of wards to support a temple, or could a core of quite a few from within an hour do it? Anyway, I got the impression last week that this city will be a place of a temple.

    I have had a few impressions/premonitions about temples before, but that is kind of random, I don't use it as a go to or anything.

    For example, in 1997 or 1998, whenever the mini-temples were announced by President Hinckley, I had a strong sense that some major temple announcement was coming. Call it luck, or maybe I have had some feelings before of that nature that never came to fruition. Feelings are funny.

    When I drove by Yucaipa/Redlands in the summer of 1999, getting lost looking for the San Bernardino DMV, thinking of my distance from Los Angeles, I thought a temple would be appropriate there. I attended the open house and dedication in 2003. California, of course.

    Again, these presentiments do not happen often, but I think Charleston makes sense to me.

    One last personal connection to a temple, I knocked quite a few doors in the neighborhood around the future Concepcion Temple. Near the Mission President's apartment where I recuperated from an illness for a week.

    Great to see the temple attendance and work up and going again.

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  43. I seem to remember it being broadcast to my ward in New York, but I didn't go to it.

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  44. The dedication for the Palmyra (2000), Winter Quarters (2001), and Nauvoo (2002) Temples were all worldwide broadcasts. I attended a session of the Nauvoo Temple dedication in South Carolina, and a second session in Utah. It was pretty special.

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    1. I attended all 3 temple dedication broadcasts as well. Each was carried live to most stake centers worldwide. I actually got excused absences from school to attend some of those events.

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  45. I remember going to the Nauvoo Temple dedication at my Stake Center in Eastern Washington state. The chapel was absolutely packed to the gills, all the way back to the stage. It was very special, a very strong spirit was there. Pres. Hinckley was very emotional, speaking of the Prophet Joseph, and how pleased he was, and that he felt he was there rejoicing with us.

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  46. That's right! I forgot that I also got to attend a session for the Winter Quarters Temple (by broadcast to my home Stake in Stevensville, MT).

    I don't recall seeing the Palmyra broadcast.

    And now that I think about, the Stake Center I saw the Nauvoo dedication in was the one in Crestwood, Kentucky, right next to the Louisville Temple.

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    1. Here in São Paulo, Brazil, we only participate in the Nauvoo dedication

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  47. I THINK I went to the Winter Quarters broadcast in New York. (The only temple dedication broadcast I really remember going to was Fort Collins in 2016.)

    I got to participate in the Palmyra dedication as a member of the cornerstone choir, it was neat to get to see President Hinckley up close for a few minutes.

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  48. I remember attending the Palmyra dedication at my stake center in Alabama. I got to attend the Nauvoo dedication while on my mission in Buenos Aires, but we only saw the very beginning before the satellite connection cut out, maybe due to weather interference. We were kind of bummed about it.

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  49. I take it that you're still waiting on info about the realignment in Kinshasa?

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